Today was fun. I found myself thinking about the blog post early in the day and began to “seek out” a story to tell. It began when I noticed this very interesting local wall mural in the town of Gainesville, Ga. I do not recall ever visiting Gainesville before today. I attended a business lunch meeting and afterwards I had a little time to spare before leaving. As I walked down the road, I passed by and saw this.
This just looked like a cool and unique photo op, but after a little research on my handy dandy phone, I quickly developed a newfound sense of respect for this art and the story behind it.
A tornado came through the small town of Gainesville, Ga on April 6, 1936 killing more than 200 people and leaving over 2,000 homeless. President Franklin Roosevelt passed through and viewed the destruction first hand on his way to DC.
The town immediately began to rebuild all that was lost. Roosevelt revisited the town after 2 years and delighted in the perseverance of everyone that contributed to the towns success.
Below is an excerpt from the speech given that day….
“On the contrary, you determined in the process of rebuilding to eliminate old conditions of which you were not proud; to rebuild a better city; to replace congested areas with parks; to move human beings from slums to suburbs. For this you, the good people of Gainesville, deserve all possible praise.” ~FDR
As I ventured further towards the town square, I was greeted by a local electrician with a warm, “Howdy Ma’am!” We exchanged pleasantries and I moved on and found a seat on a bench in the main square. I spent the next hour listening to these guys create some awesome guitar melodies.
I’m glad I got to see the good people of Gainesville, Ga. 😁